Don’t Panic

Since the end of 2007 I have had “Don’t Panic” on the screen of my phone so that I remember every time I look at it. I put it there when I was getting ready to completely change my life and move to Arizona. It’s a pretty good life philosophy. Right up there with my motto for years, “Don’t get hit by cars.” It kind of matches the wisdom we saw on a sign at California Adventure, “Smile when you scream!”

Don’t panic. Don’t panic when your deadline is approaching. Instead get to work getting it done (even if that means threatening to sit in the lobby and wait for seven hours).

Don’t panic when you don’t have the answers. Instead figure out if you are asking the right questions and then go do what you need to do to find the answers.

Don’t panic when there’s a blizzard the day you are getting married. Because, well, the photos are gorgeous.

Don’t panic when something goes wrong. Instead decide if it was really that important to begin with and then see what you can do about it now. (This is the number 1 advice I remember from my mom when I started babysitting, and it was the best advice I could’ve gotten.)

Don’t panic when the technology you based your lecture on completely fails. That’s why you keep a set of dry erase markers in your bag.

However, if you don’t know where your towel is, it might be time to panic.

Do you know where your towel is? 😉